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Viewing Heaven: Rock Crystal, Reliquaries, and Transparency in Fourteenth-Century Aachen Claire Kilgore University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected]

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Viewing Heaven: Rock Crystal, Reliquaries, and Transparency in Fourteenth-Century Aachen Claire Kilgore University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Clairekilgore@Gmail.Com University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity, Art, Art History and Design, School of School of Art, Art History and Design 5-2017 Viewing Heaven: Rock Crystal, Reliquaries, and Transparency in Fourteenth-Century Aachen Claire Kilgore University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/artstudents Part of the Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture Commons, Architectural History and Criticism Commons, Catholic Studies Commons, Christianity Commons, European History Commons, History of Christianity Commons, History of Religion Commons, Liturgy and Worship Commons, Medieval History Commons, Medieval Studies Commons, Metal and Jewelry Arts Commons, Other History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons, Other Philosophy Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Kilgore, Claire, "Viewing Heaven: Rock Crystal, Reliquaries, and Transparency in Fourteenth-Century Aachen" (2017). Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity, School of Art, Art History and Design. 121. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/artstudents/121 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Art, Art History and Design, School of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity, School of Art, Art History and Design by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. VIEWING HEAVEN: ROCK CRYSTAL, RELIQUARIES, AND TRANSPARENCY IN FOURTEENTH-CENTURY AACHEN By Claire Kilgore A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts Major: Art History Under the Supervision of Professor Alison Stewart Lincoln, Nebraska May, 2017 VIEWING HEAVEN: ROCK CRYSTAL, RELIQUARIES, AND TRANSPARENCY IN FOURTEENTH-CENTURY AACHEN Claire Kilgore, M.A. University of Nebraska, 2017 Advisor: Alison Stewart This thesis examines reliquaries and objects associated with medieval Christian practice in fourteenth-century Aachen. The city's cathedral and treasury contain prestigious relics, reliquaries, and liturgical items, aided by its status as the Holy Roman Empire's coronation church. During the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV (r. 1349-1378), reliquaries, pilgrimage, and architecture reflect late medieval interests in vision, optics, and transparency. Two mid-fourteenth century reliquaries from the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, the Reliquary of Charlemagne and the Three-Steepled Reliquary, display relics through rock crystal windows, in contrast to the obscuring characteristics of earlier reliquaries. Not only do the two reliquaries visually present relics in rock crystal, but they also use Gothic architectural structures, creating an open and transparent atmosphere. Several other reliquaries in the Aachen Cathedral Treasury include miniaturized Gothic architecture and rock crystal. Other objects associated with Aachen, including pilgrimage badges, choir robe brooches, and crosses, also exhibit the three-dimensional transparency of Gothic architecture. Rock crystal and Gothic architecture in Aachen's reliquaries and religious objects showcase an emphasis on the effects of light, space, and visibility. Transparent elements, both architectural and material, communicate changes in medieval thought emphasizing vision and sight, while continuing to represent the Heavenly Jerusalem using Gothic characteristics. I consider the materials and structures of objects from fourteenth-century Aachen, as well as medieval writings on gems and how their characteristics contribute to medieval visions of heaven. Rock crystal's transparency and clarity describes the Heavenly Jerusalem literally and metaphorically. Light and immaterial space also appear in the inexpensive metalwork of pilgrim badges that incorporate Gothic details and ideas about optics and reflection. Charles IV's spirituality and patronage appear not only in church renovations imitating Sainte Chapelle, but also in the reliquaries donated during his reign featuring rock crystal and miniature Gothic architecture. Rock crystal and open Gothic architecture communicate a new, different vision of the medieval religious ideal of the Heavenly Jerusalem, while revealing interests in perception and optical theory, and their application into medieval religious objects. iv Acknowledgments Many people have helped and supported me in this project. I wish to express my appreciation and thanks to my advisor Dr. Alison Stewart for her support, guidance, and edits throughout the writing process and for first introducing me to this material. I also wish to thank Dr. Andrea Bolland and Dr. Jessica Coope for participating in my defense. I am also grateful to Dr. Carole Levin and the University of Nebraska Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program for their support, interest, and guidance in my studies. Thank you to Franz Kretschmann, the staff of the Aachen Cathedral Treasury, Dr. Gerhard Lutz, and the staff at the Hildesheim Cathedral Museum for allowing me to photograph their collections and include the images in this thesis. Thank you to Colleen Syron for providing a productive and quiet workspace and to Kathryn Monaco for hosting me during my research in New York City. Thank you to my fellow graduate students in the Art History Department during the past two years for your encouragement and inspiration. Finally, I wish to thank my friends and family for listening to and reading many drafts and ideas pertaining to this project. Thank you especially my parents, Margaret and David, for encouraging my love of art, art history, and all things medieval. v Grant Information My research would not have been possible without the generous grants available at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Support from the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program Paul Olson International Travel Award, the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, and the Art History Department Trabold Fund allowed me to travel to Aachen and Hildesheim, Germany in the summer of 2016 and to New York City in January 2017, providing me with the incredibly helpful and rewarding experience of examining many of these objects and their use of rock crystal in person. Additional funding through the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Graduate Travel Awards Program, and Art History Department Trabold Fund gave me the opportunity to present aspects of this research at multiple conferences during the spring of 2017. I am grateful for the various comments and suggestions received and incorporated into this final thesis. vi Table of Contents Table of Illustrations vii Introduction 1 Overview of Previous Scholarship 3 Light, Heaven, and Transparency 6 Chapter 1: Structure, Visibility, and Materiality in Early Reliquaries 10 Structure and Materiality 11 Physicality, Sight, and Aesthetics 14 Rock Crystal and Early Medieval Reliquaries 18 Theorizing the Light of Heaven 22 Chapter 2: Changing Visions, Changing Materials: Rock Crystal, Reliquaries, 29 and the Fourteenth Century Aachen and Architecture 30 Vision and Theology 34 Relics and Reliquaries 36 Open and Closed Gothic Architecture 47 The Science and Significance of Vision 51 Chapter 3: Expanding Three-Dimensionality: Light, Space, and the Heavenly 53 Jerusalem Observing Medieval Pilgrimage and the Senses 54 Pilgrimage and Badges 56 Aachen: Saints, Relics, and Badges 58 Other Architectural Miniatures 64 Memory, Sensation, and the Heavenly Jerusalem 68 Conclusion 70 Illustrations 80 Bibliography 113 Appendix A 121 vii Table of Illustrations Figure 1.1 Carolyn Malone, Reconstruction of the eleventh-century Church 80 of Saint-Bénigne Figure 1.2 Reliquary of St. Anastasius the Persian (artophorion), late tenth or 81 early eleventh century Figure 1.3 Attributed to Nicholas of Verdun and others, Shrine of the Three 82 Kings, ca. 1180-1230 Figure 1.4 Ninian Reliquary, ca. 1200 83 Figure 1.5 Cross of St. Nikomedes of Borghurst, ca. 1050 84 Figure 1.6 Reliquary with the Tooth of Saint John the Baptist, rock crystal 85 flask ca. 1000, metalwork ca. 1375-1400 Figure 1.7 Domed Reliquary, ca. 1170-1180 86 Figure 1.8 Reliquary Monstrance, thirteenth century 87 Figure 1.9 Lantern of Begon, also known as the Reliquary of St. Vincent, ca. 88 860 Figure 2.1 Shrine of the Virgin Mary, 1220-1239 89 Figure 2.2 Shrine of Charlemagne, 1182-1215 90 Figure 2.3 Reliquary of Charlemagne, mid-fourteenth century 91 Figure 2.4 Three-Steepled Reliquary, 1370-1390 92 Figure 2.5 Reliquary of Thomas Beckett's Blood, 1173-1180 93 Figure 2.6 Reliquary for the Flagellation Rope of Christ, ca. 1380 94 Figure 2.7 Reliquary for the Belt of the Virgin Mary, ca. 1360 95 Figure 2.8 Attributed to Jean de Touyl, Reliquary of Elizabeth of Hungary, 96 ca. 1325-1350 Figure 2.9 Reliquary Bust for the Arm of Saint John the Baptist, after 1355 97 Figure 3.1 Wenceslas Hollar, Church of the Virgin at Aachen, ca. 1664 98 Figure 3.2 Wenceslas Hollar, Display of Relics detail from Church of the 99 Virgin at Aachen, ca. 1664 Figure 3.3 Floor plan: Aachen Cathedral 100 Figure 3.4 Reliquary Bust of Charlemagne, after 1349 101 Figure 3.5 Pilgrim Badge of the Crowned Virgin and Child, ca. 1200-1224 102 Figure 3.6 Pilgrim Badge of Charlemagne, ca. 1350-1400 102 Figure 3.7 Charlemagne Kneeling Before
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